Tag: signs of recession

‘Accept the pain’: Lindsey Graham defends Trump’s escalating trade war with China

Washington Post logoAs markets have reacted with turmoil to President Trump’s escalating threats against China, one of the president’s staunchest allies in Congress had a stark message for American businesses and consumers: “Accept the pain” that comes with a trade war.

“We’ve just got to accept the pain that comes with standing up to China,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in a Sunday appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “How do you get China to change without creating some pain on them and us? I don’t know.”

Trump caused strife in trading rooms on Friday when he promised a 5-percentage-point increase on all existing and planned Chinese tariffs and then “ordered” U.S. firms to stop doing business in China. Those threats came at an already volatile moment, with American indicators suggesting a potential recession and Trump questioning on Twitter whether Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell is an “enemy” of the United States.

View the complete August 26 article by Tim Elfrink on The Washington Post website here.

Stocks sink as odds of U.S.-China trade deal appear to wane

Washington Post logoBond yields plunge, signaling investor flight to safety as they worry that a record stock run may be nearing its end.

Stocks continued their August swoon Monday on fears that Hong Kong protests, falling worldwide bond yields and the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute could lead to a global recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 462 points before the blue chips clawed some of that back to finish down about 390 points at 25,898, about a 1.5 percent drop. Financial services was among the hardest-hit Dow sectors, with Goldman Sachs Group off 2.6 percent. Pfizer, United Technologies and Caterpillar were also big drags. Only drug giant Merck stayed slightly above water.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index finished down 36 points at 2,882, a 1.2 percent drop. The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index fell about 95 points on the day to close at 7,863, or 1.2 percent.

View the complete August 12 article by Thomas Heath on The Washington Post website here.